NPR plans major news expansion

WASHINGTON, June 21 (UPI) -- National Public Radio has planned a $15 million expansion, a move some insiders say will give the U.S. broadcasting entity more muscle for a liberal agenda.

The three-year expansion will include adding 45 reporters and producers, improving breaking news coverage and building staffs at shows such as "All Things Considered," the Washington Times reported Monday.

With the growth comes the notion NPR will support a liberal agenda, a theory NPR's president said is unsubstantiated.

"What we have found to be important is substantive interviewing. People of all political views come to NPR," said Kevin Klose, adding Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, a liberal media watchdog group, recently accused NPR of featuring too many conservatives.

The expansion, Klose said, will emphasize news that is "in-depth and top-quality ... at a time when other news organizations are retreating from the presentation of serious and thoughtful content."

The funds come from a $225 million bequest that NPR received last October from Joan B. Kroc, widow of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc.